Stampede day #2

John, (my work partner from Montreal): 'So do you like country music?'
Matty: 'What are you kidding, it's awful'
John: 'Well you've got no choice this week!'

He's right. The next ten days I'm helping stock Nashville North, the largest bar in Canada and it's packed full of cowboys n cowgirls around the clock, with live country music bands playing on stage. Delightful tunes such as 'Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy' ring in my ears as I haul carts of beverage through the crowds. I tell you what joke get's old reaaaaal quick - it's when I'm straining with a load and some guy points at the flats of beers on my trolley then points at himself and does a drinkie-drinkie motion. Real funny big guy...

I was paired up initially with this guy John from Montreal who came out really strong at the start of the night and seemed to know what he was doing but then sort of disappeared as the night went on. I'm just glad I worked the last couple of weeks on set-up because I've really built up my strength. There's no let up the whole shift. It's exhausting at times but can be quite exhilirating work. The atmosphere in the bar is electric and the punters are really getting into it. The shift supervisor or 'controller' is a school principal. Bit of a control freak but he's alright.

I'm constantly amazed how many people cram into the bar. They line up for hours outside and they're hearded like cattle, literally (to fit the western theme the line up area looks like at cattle runway!).

Yesterday morning I went to the big parade through the city. It was very impressive. I took lots of photos which I'll upload in due course.

MG